Nezha 2 dominates the Spring Festival, rejoices in the light, cries Bona?

Wen| Snake Eyes Finance v

The Spring Festival season has come to an end, and “Nezha’s Devil Boy Raises in the Sea” has become the biggest winner without any suspense. This film not only swept the box office with a devastating momentum, but also ranked 27th in the box office list in global film history, becoming the only non-Hollywood film on the TOP 30. It also rushed to sixth place in the world in the field of animated films, surpassing “Little Yellow Man Big Eyes and Cute”. Data from Cat’s Eye Professional Edition shows that as of February 11, the box office of “Nezha 2” has exceeded 9 billion yuan, and it is still moving towards higher records.

As the main investment company of “Nezha 2”, Enlight Media’s share price has risen by 75%, and its market value has hit a 10-year high. It is expected that “Nezha 2” will contribute a net profit of 80 – 1 billion yuan, far exceeding 500 million yuan. production cost. This case inspired capital to re-evaluate the value of the film and television sector, and promoted the investment logic of film and television stocks from schedule game to IP value evaluation.

However, it is also the Spring Festival, and some people are happy, others are worried. Enlight Media made a lot of money in this box office feast. Bona, who made all his money on the theme movie, failed to continue its previous highlight. This year’s performance is not Bright. Behind the changing seating patterns of Spring Festival movies, the entire film and television industry landscape is also undergoing new changes and reshaping.

Industry pattern: The head effect is intensifying

The total box office of the Spring Festival in 2025 will reach 9.51 billion yuan, with “Nezha 2” monopolizing 50.9%, while Bona Films’s “Operation Dragon” box office only 298 million yuan. This gap is a world of difference. The success of “Nezha 2” allows us to see the powerful siphon effect of the lead film. This winner-take-all phenomenon is becoming increasingly obvious in the film market.

In terms of market share, with its strong brand influence, high-quality content and large-scale promotion, the leading film has attracted a large number of viewers and funds, accounting for the vast majority of the market share. According to public data, the nationwide screening rate of “Nezha 2” is not low. Its sessions not only occupy the prime time of many theaters, but also basically maintain a screening rate of more than 60%. Some small counties even reached an exaggerated screening rate of 70%. In the days when the number of people watching the movie soared, its screening rate was even calculated according to minutes, which can be seen in terms of its popularity. In sharp contrast, it is difficult for small and medium-cost films to stand out in the fierce market competition due to the lack of sufficient resources and exposure.

Take “Nezha 2” as an example. It has strong support from Light Media. From script polishing, production team formation to publicity and distribution, a lot of resources have been invested in every aspect. At the same time, the high popularity and reputation accumulated by the previous work “Nezha: The Devil Boy Coming into the World” have also laid a solid foundation for the success of “Nezha 2”. The audience ‘s recognition and expectation of Nezha as an IP made “Nezha 2” attract much attention before it was released.

In contrast, small and medium-cost films are often short of production and lack of publicity and promotion. It is difficult for them to attract audience attention through large-scale marketing campaigns like headline films do. In terms of arranging films, theaters are also more inclined to give more scenes to lead films, which further reduces the living space of small and medium-cost films.

This phenomenon of intensified head effect is both an opportunity and a challenge for the entire film industry. On the one hand, it inspires film production companies to continuously improve the quality of films and create competitive header IP; on the other hand, it also needs to pay attention to the development of small and medium-cost films to create conditions for the diversified development of the film industry.

Enlight Media: Victory of Diversity Strategy

Enlight Media is undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of the success of “Nezha 2”. Since “Nezha: The Devil Child” was born in 2019 and won 5 billion yuan + at the box office, Light Media has continued to make efforts in the field of animated films. The popularity of “Nezha 2” once again proves Enlight Media’s profound accumulation and strong strength in the field of animated films. The success of Enlight Media is inseparable from its diversified strategic layout.

In terms of content creation, Enlight Media has set foot in many fields such as animation, youth, and drama to meet the needs of different audiences. These measures have played a positive role in its box office and market response. In the field of animated films, Enlight Media has set its ambition to be Pixar in China, established Color Bar House Company focusing on animation production, and invested in more than 20 animation companies, including October Culture, Coca Bean Animation, Bi ‘an Tian, etc., covering many fields such as 3D animation, 2D animation, comics, games, and copyright, forming a strong animation ecosystem.

In addition to the ecological layout, Light also increased its originality, created many mythical IPs represented by the “Nezha” series (followed by IPs such as “Yang Jian” and “Jiang Ziya “), and built its own God’s universe. At the technical level, Light has also specially established a script database, a mirror cloud platform, etc. to promote the industrialization and standardization of animation production and move closer to international excellent animated films. In terms of market strategy, Light not only focuses on domestic distribution, but also actively promotes overseas distribution and expands the global market.

In addition, Light is also actively involved in many themes such as youth, comedy, and suspense, and has achieved certain positive responses and reputation. For example, in the field of youth themes,”To Our Youth That Will Die” released in 2013 was directed by Zhao Wei. With its meticulous portrayal of the youthful years, this film successfully evoked the audience’s memories and resonance of youth, earning 726 million yuan. box office.

In terms of comedy themes, Enlight Media has also achieved remarkable results. “Good Luck”, which will be released on November 30, 2024, is co-produced by Kaixin Mahua, Pioneer Pictures, Light Media and Dadi Cinema. It brings together comedy stars such as Baike, Huang Cailun, Qiao Shan, Wang Dalu and Li Jiaqi, and has achieved good response and achieved good reputation and box office results.

In the field of suspense themes, Light Media has also made arrangements. The “Qingming Shanghe Map Code” co-produced with Alibaba Pictures is adapted from Ye Wenbiao’s novel of the same name. The novel took 10 years to create and combines history and suspense reasoning. The book contains more than 20 kinds of reasoning tricks and more than 80 cases., and restored 824 named characters in the entire picture of “Qingming Shanghe Map”, creating a magnificent pattern.

In terms of industrial chain layout, Enlight Media covers multiple aspects such as film production, distribution, screening and derivative development, forming a complete industrial chain ecosystem.

Taking the development of derivatives as an example, with the popularity of “Nezha 2”, its related derivatives have also been enthusiastically sought after by consumers. Through cooperation with brands such as Bubble Mart and Bandai Nanmeng Palace, Enlight Media has launched a series of joint products, further exploring the commercial value of Nezha IP. This diversified profit model allows Enlight Media to obtain additional revenue in addition to the box office of the movie.

In terms of talent training and team building, Enlight Media has also made great efforts. It has gathered a group of outstanding animation talents, such as director dumplings, etc., providing a solid talent guarantee for the creation of animated films. At the same time, Enlight Media also focuses on cooperating with excellent animation production companies at home and abroad to continuously improve its production level and innovation capabilities.

Bona Films: The main theme film is cold

Compared with the prosperity of Enlight Media, Bona Films seems a little lonely during this Spring Festival. The box office of “Operation Jiaolong”, which it invested in, was only 352 million yuan, far lower than expected. This result also made Bona Film think deeply.

Bona Films has always been known for its main theme commercial films. From “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom” to “Changjin Lake”, Bona Films has won the favor of the audience and recognition of the market with its sophisticated production and profound themes. However, with the changes in the market environment and the improvement of audience aesthetic needs, the main theme film is also facing increasing challenges.

The failure of “Operation Jiaolong” was partly due to the fact that the film itself had certain flaws in its plot and production, which failed to meet the expectations of the audience. In terms of plot, as a main theme action film,”Operation Dragon” has many similarities with previous films of the same genre in terms of story framework and theme expression, and lacks innovation. In terms of special effects production, there is a big gap with the international first-class standard. The special effects of some explosion scenes, gun battle scenes and sea battle scenes in the film appear rough and stiff, giving the audience a strong feeling of illusion.

On the other hand, the failure of “Operation Jiaolong” also reflects the homogenization problem of the main theme films in market competition. In recent years, the number of themed films has continued to increase, and the audience’s aesthetic fatigue about such themes has gradually emerged. From the “Wolf Warrior” series to “Changjin Lake”, these main theme films have inspired the patriotic enthusiasm of the audience with their passionate plots and shocking pictures, and achieved double harvests at the box office and reputation. However, with the continuous emergence of such films, a trend of homogenization has gradually emerged in the market, and “Operation Jiaolong” encounters this problem.

From the perspective of character creation, the character image in “Operation Jiaolong” is relatively simple, lacking depth and three-dimensional, especially the lack of display of the complexity of human nature, resulting in a very facial image. In terms of publicity,”Operation Jiaolong” also failed to effectively break the audience’s stereotype of the main theme movie. Under such circumstances, if “Operation Jiaolong” wants to stand out, it will naturally face greater external challenges.

In addition, Bona Films is relatively lagging behind in diversified development and relies too much on the market performance of the main theme films. Once the main theme film market fluctuates, Bona Films ‘performance will also be greatly affected. The situation encountered by Bona Films during the Spring Festival also proves the nature of relying on a single theme to resist risks.

Industrial changes under the new situation

The popularity of “Nezha 2” has had a profound and long-term impact on the entire film industry. It not only reshaped the film market, but also promoted the upgrading and development of the film industry.

From the perspective of market structure, the success of “Nezha 2” will further strengthen the head effect, and capital will be more inclined to invest in potential head IP and production companies. This will encourage film production companies to pay more attention to content quality and brand building, and continuously improve their core competitiveness. At the same time, its emergence will also intensify market competition, and some weaker production companies may face the risk of being eliminated.

In terms of industrial upgrading, the success of “Nezha 2” has set a benchmark for the development of animated films in China. It proves that China’s animated films have reached world-class levels in terms of technology and content, and also provides valuable experience for the industrialization and IP development of China’s animated films. In the future, with the emergence of more high-quality animated films, China’s animated films are expected to occupy a more important position in the global market.

The high box office of “Nezha 2” will also attract more capital and talents into the film industry, injecting new vitality into the development of the film industry. This will promote the innovation and improvement of film production technology and push the film industry to a higher level. “Nezha 2” dominated the Spring Festival, loved Light Media, and brought profound thinking to the entire film industry. It allows us to see the powerful power of head films and also allows us to realize the importance of diversified development of the film industry.

In the future development, film production companies need to continuously innovate, improve content quality, and create competitive IP in order to remain invincible in the fierce market competition. For the entire film industry, it is also necessary to pay attention to the development of small and medium-cost films while the head effect is intensifying, and promote the diversification and sustainable development of the film industry.